A Swansea Olympian is backing plans for a new generation of top-class skateboarding and BMX facilities in the city.
Swansea Council has set aside more than £1m for new and improved facilities to help cater for the growing popularity of the sports.
James Jones, who was part of Great Britain’s freestyle BMX team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, has welcomed the move.
The 29-year-old, who’s originally from the Sandfields area of Swansea, said: “BMX and skateboarding are already hugely popular, but they’re only going to get more popular in Swansea and elsewhere in the coming years, with both sports now featuring in the Olympics.
“It’s amazing that Swansea Council have recognised this and are setting aside quite a lot of funding for better facilities here.
“When I was younger, I used to BMX a lot at the skateboard ramp in Victoria Park but I also used to go to the Elba in Gowerton quite often.
“That used to take me half an hour or so but if more and improved facilities come, it will lessen journey times for youngsters and attract even more people to try BMX, skateboarding and inline skating.”
Swansea Council has also recently advertised its ambition to recruit more expertise to help deliver its skate and BMX vision on the Sell2Wales procurement site.
James said: “It’s a great idea. It’s important to have someone who knows skateparks and has ridden them before because they’ll have a better understanding of what works and what youngsters want. This is needed.”
Cllr Robert Francis-Davies, Swansea Council’s Cabinet Member for Investment, Regeneration and Tourism, said: “We recognise the popularity of these sports and how important top-class BMX and skateboarding facilities are for our young people.
“That’s why we’ve set aside funding and are looking to increase the external expertise available, locally and further afield, to help us deliver the next generation of facilities, helping improve and further support the network of BMX and skateboarding facilities we already have in place.
“Any new or improved facility proposals in future would be very much guided by the views of the local BMX and skateboarding communities.”
